Nonlinear Dynamics, Psychology, and Life Sciences, Vol. 24, Iss. 2, Apr, 2020, pp. 143-157
@2020 Society for Chaos Theory in Psychology & Life Sciences

 
Grasp Affordances in Bistable Perception of the Necker Cube

Thomas R. Brooks, The College of Idaho, Caldwell, ID
Till D. Frank, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT
James A. Dixon, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT

Abstract: Stimulus-response compatibility effects illustrate the mutual depen-dence of perception and action processes. Ellis and Tucker (2000) showed that object identification was facilitated when the response required a grip that was compatible with the stimulus. In the current study, we extend grip-compatibility effects to perception of the Necker cube. Participants reported the perceived orientation of a Necker cube by orienting a hand-held cube into a compatible or an incompatible position. Participants in the incompatible condition were quickly attracted to the FRB (front-side right bottom) percept, consistent with previous work. However, participants in the compatible condition showed an extended period of metastability, switching between the two perceptual states about equally. A second experiment replicated these results and showed that a control condition in which responses were made with a key press produced intermediate levels of metastability. These results are interpreted in terms of the dynamics of bistable perception.

Keywords: micro-affordance, metastability, visual, haptic, trajectory